September 1954. The Confucius Temple Restoration in Taipei

^{Great grandfather (second from right in the front row), Grandfather (first one on the left in the back row),
second Uncle (second from left in the front row)
曾祖父 洪寶真 ( 下排右二 )、祖父 洪詩榮 ( 上排左一 )、二叔公 洪詩銘 ( 下排左二 )}

Father drawing the God’s animal “Qilin”

^{父親繪製神獸 “ 麒麟 ”}

Grandfather “placing the gold leaf” on the puppet stage

^{祖父為布袋戲台 “ 按金 ”} 

About Iching Hung 

Born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1981. Iching Hung’s hometown Xinzhuang is one of the birthplaces of Taiwanese temple culture. There are three generations in her family who have worked in traditional temple decoration painting. Her great-grandfather Hung, Bao-Cheng was a recognized painting master in traditional temple images in Taiwan, specializing in animal beings, flora and other categories of traditional temple painting. The early well-known Taiwanese painter, Li Mei-shu, invited her great-grandfather to participate in the restoration project of the Sanshia Tzushr Temple and assigned him to be in charge of painting restoration. Her grandmother was a tailor making both traditional Chinese costumes and western-style garments. This unique family background created wonderful childhood memories of dragon and lion dancing, glove puppetry, Taiwanese folk opera, open-air cinemas, sugarcoated plums on a stick, and the cloud like fairy loss of festive celebrations. And when the gold leaf that her father and grandfather used to decorate temples unfolded piece by piece in front of her eyes, they were just like shining stars twinkling in the sky, and she innocently imagined herself as a little golden asteroid that could travel freely through universe. These magical childhood memories are the seeds of imagination, now rooted in her heart to inspire her creations.


洪意晴 ICHING HUNG，1981 年生於台灣台北。家鄉新莊廟街，那是台灣早期廟宇文化的發源地之一，我的家族三代曾從事廟宇傳統彩繪的工作，曾祖父洪寶真是台灣專精於神獸、花卉等傳統廟宇圖像的彩繪師傅。台灣早期畫家李梅樹，曾邀請曾祖父參與三峽祖師廟修復計畫，負責指導廟宇彩繪修復工程；祖母是位製作傳統旗袍、唐裝和洋裁的師傅。尋著兒時記憶，廟街小巷弄裡的舞龍舞獅、古早布袋戲、歌仔戲、夜晚熱鬧的蚊子電影院、紅紅的糖葫蘆、像雲一樣的棉花糖，還有祖父和父親有時在家繪畫、按金箔，準備金箔紙時，那金箔紙一張張攤開來映入眼簾的彷彿像是夜空中閃爍的星星，讓兒時天真的我，幻想著自己就像是一顆金色的小行星，在宇宙間自由自在的漫遊著，那些美好的兒時記憶也在我的心裡深植了想像力的種子。